Handing the reins to Tom is not about nepotism; it’s about D&M doing what they think best for this club

When the cancer that would kill him was diagnosed, Sir Jack Walker decided to give a rare interview so that supporters of the football club he had financed lavishly would not worry.

He told the Lancashire Evening Post that he had set up a family trust. The task of the trust after his death would be to nurture all his businesses, including Blackburn Rovers.

His plan was that the club should become self-financing – or, in the jargon of businessmen, it should “wash its face”. Instead, the family trust washed their hands of Blackburn Rovers.

In November 2010, they flogged Rovers to the Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group — Venkys for short — an Indian pharmaceuticals and poultry conglomerate.

Before anyone could warn Rovers fans not to count their chickens, they’d been stuffed. Venkys quickly became the most derided of the many loathed foreign owners of English football clubs.

Of course there are clubs who have tasted success under foreign control — the two with whom Norwich were promoted in May 2015 for a start: Bournemouth and Watford.

But how do you determine you are selling to a Gino Pozzo (Watford) and not someone more akin to Massimo Cellino at Leeds? Or a Vincent Tan of Cardiff?

And what will happen at Bournemouth now that Russian businessman Maxim Demin has decided his pockets are not deep enough for the Premier League and has sold a wodge of his shares to an American private equity fund?

These are among the considerations that Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones have talked about to each other and to trusted friends and experts for the decade or so that they have been worrying what to do with Norwich City.

Yet if you read Henry Winter’s feature in The Times on Bonfire Day, you would believe they had not fretted at all.

Many newspapers were chasing Delia and Michael to “do a piece” to mark the 20th anniversary of their becoming City’s majority shareholders. The hack pack would not be put off the scent until they talked to someone, and Henry is a lovely guy, so …

But by publishing long transcriptions of their conversation, without seeking context or offering explanations, Henry created some misleading impressions. The most damaging was that Delia and Michael are glib about not countenancing selling the club to anyone from abroad and are cavalier about deciding instead to hand control to their nephew, Tom.

The truth is that for at least half the time they have owned Norwich shares they have tried to devise a succession plan.

At one time they were ready make way for another husband and wife team. Andrew and Sharon Turner are, like them, fans and relatively wealthy. But after a year on the Carrow Road board, the Turners walked away.

At another stage, Delia and Michael employed the well-connected deal-broker Keith Harris to try to find one or more people willing to “invest” in the club.

They watched, too, as their friend Steve Morgan ploughed cash into Wolverhampton Wanderers. Morgan bought Wolves from Sir Jack Hayward, who had tired of the club’s profligacy with his money, famously complaining: “I’m the golden tit.”

Morgan oversaw an expensive revamp of Molineux but none of his managers could get the football right for long enough and Morgan reported to Delia that he’d had fans screaming abuse in his face. Last July Morgan sold to Fosun International, a Chinese business group.

Aston Villa and Birmingham are now also owned by Chinese “investors”. There must be a joke about the Midlands and Chinese takeaways, but nobody knows how this latest round of acquisitions is a laughing matter — or, indeed, how the Chinese will react if they reach the Premier League and learn how little impact anything short of billions can achieve.

So, last season, as they both reached 75 and that 20th anniversary came into view, Michael and Delia decided that they could no longer wait to see if the perfect “investor” would materialise. Nor could they spend time and resources running checks on all the Chinese businesses said to be eyeing English football.

They pushed ahead with another idea that had been germinating for some time: to ask their nephew Tom whether he would be prepared to take on the task of “looking after” the club they care about.

That was not about nepotism. If it had been, they could have sold the club for, say, £40 million to any Tan, Wang or Wei and given Tom the money. Delia and Michael understand that what they are actually bestowing on Tom can be crushing burden of stress and angst. But they trust him.

And so do I.

I am not, whatever Rob Butler says on Radio Norfolk, bless him, a spokesman for the board of Norwich City. This piece has not been requested or placed.

But it is a defence of a man I like and admire: a shrewd young man who has held demanding jobs that require structured decision-making and has now set about learning as much as is possible about the business of football and, in particular, the business of Norwich City.

When the time comes for him to have the final say on what happens, I am certain he will always put Norwich City’s best long-term interests first. I don’t know — and I suspect he doesn’t either — what that will mean precisely.

But when Norwich won so handsomely on the season’s opening day at Ewood Park, and I saw Blackburn message boards clogged full of “Venkys out” despair, I thought to myself: “Thank goodness Delia and Michael took neither the easy way out nor the money.”

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Comments

I’ve only read the headline as I refuse to read twaddle. Anyone who thinks handing over reigns to someone with zero experience is is the best thing for this club, or anything club, is either lying or stupid.

I agree that it could be disastrous for City to get foreign investment of the kind that Michael Wynn Jones spoke of so dismissively at the AGM last night. He and Delia must be tired of the “dog’s abuse” they have been getting in recent days. The Club is in difficulty over decisions taken over the past few yew years. Mr McNally began to believe his own publicity and felt he had all the answers. The recruitment (or lack of it after the play off final was compounded by panic transfers in last New Year and in the summer. The structure of player recruitment has not worked leading to the unbalanced and bloated squad City have today.

Jez Moxey looks to be a man of knowledge and authority. Never have those qualities be so sorely needed.

Well if you are not a spokesman for Delia & Michael how come you have inside information as to what there plans and thoughts are, that others know nothing about until you disclose them , sounds like a case of Best Buddies to me

This is a very measured piece by someone genuinely in the know but it’ll still get dogs abuse. Football has turned nasty. Fuelled by the greed of the clubs, players and broadcasters. And we fans fail to see our appalling hipocracy throughout it all.

“Any Tan, Wang or Wei” is not even accidental racism is it?
It’s a shame that racism failings aside, Mick is not called on more by Delia to defend the Club as he does so much better than the shambles last night.
No fans are ever fully behind their owners but just ask they do their best. On that NCFC fans can have no complaints as whether we agree or not Delia does do her best.

This whole article (sorry Mick) reeks of somebody far too ‘chummy’ with D & M, somebody who in exchange for saying nice things, gets an extra Yorkshire pudding on their pre-match lunch.
They, and we as a club, are in severe danger of falling adrift of the pack if investment is not addressed. And, best will in the world, is Tom the guy to provide or help supply that?
The feelings and ambitions of the majority of the 26,000 regular and loyal fans are being swept under the carpet and ignored – and that’s selfish and incredibly naive.

Thanks Mick for the article. My question to you is do you think we have a balanced board. I feel by putting a series of people who don’t probe or contest decisions by the power two to lead us in one direction. I have tremendous respect for Delia, and both the Michaels for the time, effort and cash they put into the club. I try to stay away from the pink un message boards as it’s hot pot of negativity with people unable to put forward a sensible debate without mud slinging. We all want the club to move forward and become an established premier league team, but something is fundamentally not right and changes are needed…….keep up the good work and don’t let the b@$^^^ds get you down.

I totally agree with you Mr. Dennis. There´s never been any doubt in my mind that whatever other sort of shortcomings Smith and Jones may be seen to have by ´all knowíng´ fans, selling the Club short or risking its future has never been one of them. If they´ve decided that Tom is the answer then we should trust them and applaud them for it, especially in these times when so many Clubs are looking for a quick fix to join the money wagon.

Also agree with “6 Cityfan, – greed in the game has become appalling, amongst agents, players, and not least amongst supporters, who want success, and want it now.

Mick I have a lot of respect for you and the fact that you stand up for a friend so vehemently. However, as a lifelong Canaries fan, I find it deeply troubling that this is their plan of action. Handing over the reins to an inexperienced family member is not what I regard as acceptable. It is no coincidence that the best years we have had at the club in the last 20 coincided with the appointment of McNally and Bowkett. Now that both of them have departed, I don’t feel very confident about the future of this club. It feels like they have, effectively, surrounded themselves with “yes men”, who won’t question the way they are running the club. In my eyes, it is time for change, for better or worse. Mick, without your friend hat on, what do you think is the best course of action for this football club over the next 5 years?

Keith B (6) What experience is Tom likely to obtain under his Aunt, Uncle, Phillips, Foulger, Moxey or Balls? The way I see it is that we are going to see a carbon copy, which is definitely what we don’t want.

Compared to the rest of us, Mick is an expert – on football which he studied for a living, and in particular on Norwich City. Whether or not I choose to agree with him, I’m happy to have that extra insight.

A sad aspect of 2016 for me is that it’s been a year for experts to be held in scorn rather than respect. I didn’t put Dave B into the ‘mindless’ category before now, but his first sentence says it all.

“The expert knows something, but I don’t want to hear it” – not a great epitaph for a year.

Mick, I appreciate you standing up for your friends. However, passing the reins to an inexperienced nephew does not fill me with confidence. It is no coincidence that the best period over the last 20 years coincided with the appointment of McNally and Bowkett. How is Tom going to become experienced under the stewardship of his aunt and uncle? He’ll be more of the same. I think it is time for a change, for better or worse. Football is not a game where you settle for mediocrity. You aspire to be the best you can be. Whether that is the player, manager or club. As fans, we should always hold them in the highest regard but it appears that they have taken the club as far as they can.

Mick, I do not and have never doubted Delia & Michael’s intentions and your article does give some context to the now notorious Times article.

I think the furore surrounding the article has been magnified by the seriously worrying 12months of football on the pitch, as always football is a results business and now things look bad not only does Alex Neil get the wrath so do Delia & Michael, rightly though in my opinion.

Owners, Directors & Manager have failed in the last 12months, what concerns me most is, what is the plan to learn from our mistakes and plot a path back to the premier league?.

Sadly last night (I couldn’t make it despite being a shareholder) gave me very little confidence in our ability to arrest the alarming decline we are currently in.

Alex Neil is a shadow of his former self and even the most optimistic supporters are now seriously questioning his ability to arrest the slide, then we have “Jez” who despite his apparent high regard in the game hasn’t overseen any sustained success at Wolves which can explain the frosty reception he has received from the canary faithful.

Do our owners have the best intentions?, or course, however do I worry about the current plight an future of our club right now?, damn right.

Mr Watling said after wrestling the club back from a certain Mr Chase who owned 71 percent of the club, That no one person or persons would ever have that much control of the club again . Them 2 dotty old pensioners own in normal and extraordinary shares about 91 percent of the club and will do what they want with it regardless , and with the local media & Mr Denis and 22,000 season ticket holders backing them I don’t see much change .

As a general response to anyone who disagrees with my first post. If you think handing over the reigns of any business, any business at all, to someone who has zero experience, is the best thing you can do for said business, I’d like some of what you’re smoking.

I know we live in the land of anti-expert, but come on.

Also, I’m not sure mick knows what nepotism is based on his idea that giving money instead of power to someone is nepotism.

Sorry cannot take this guy seriously , nothing more than a mouthpiece for his personal friends .
Maybe an article telling us why the owners appear to dislike foreigners and dont want any to own the club would be more of an insight , dont hear many Man City fans moaning about their Johnny Foreigner.

Lots of respect for Mick but it’s hard to be objective when you’re so close to them. It’s clear that this club needs a fresh slate; not a family member who no doubt will be as unambutious as his uncle and aunt.

Genuinely learned something I didn’t know. The fact about bournemouths benefactor cutting his backing for the tiny south coast outfit is interesting. To be frank, if he pulled out every rouble and left them to rot he would still have been the best thing that’s ever going to happen to them. Without his money they are strictly fourth division. So for that snippet I thank you, mr Dennis.
I still cannot agree with the pro board sentiments that you espouse, but some balance in the conversation is always welcome. I don’t think anybody would be surprised by your stance,
When all is said and done, neither side in this argument is going to win over the other, events on the pitch will eventually decide the outcome. Venting ones spleen about a subject close to all hearts is cathartic and helps to formulate ones own views on the matter.
As a contributor states further up the piece it’s an unwise contributor that dabbles in the pink un site, particularly if he holds a,critical view about the club. Invariably some oaf will immediately spring onto the board with personal abuse and churlish statements.
The battle lines are drawn, Delia smith has driven her tanks onto the lawn and the resistance are stockpiling their Molotov cocktails. What price a win at Derby on Saturday?

A dose of realism is difficult to swallow. NCFC do not have the right to be in the PL and for several different reasons are unlikely to regularly stay there, mainly due to player recruitment. Not caused by in club inefficiencies but by astute owners not wanting to risk the long term finacial viability of the club by a risky spend to “guaranter” PL success.
Personally I would be happy with the occasional forray in the PL and stay safe financially. Having said this I am totally disgusted by most of this seasons performances. Not because we are falling down the table but because of the totally disinterested attitude of most of the players. It’s the games I look to get enjoyment from not looking at the table nor seeing how big the opponents are. I go to watch Norwich not the opponents whoever they are.

Nepotism, yes don’t be silly of course it is. It’s called succession, it’s what many business owners do after all. Does it turn out well? In many cases no. In this case almost certainly not and will probably mean mediocrity for a long time to come. Frankly I’ve had enough, too many wasted opportunities through amateurish incompetance

Additionally although an excellent journalist Mick Dennis cannot be taken seriously on this subject. He has a track record of fawning unrelenting praise for the current owners so his comments are at best irrelevant. I’m inclined to agree with Rob Butler on this one

Let’s not gloat too much over Blackburn. They are in the same league as us and their recent results are better than ours! And we could easily be in mid-table by Saturday evening!
Ten years ago Delia and Michael were far too loyal to Nigel Worthington after promotion and relegation. The eventual outcome was further relegation and near financial disaster. The evidence on the pitch suggests we might be heading in the same direction. We have to wait and see but I feel this Board, a lot weaker than a year ago, and its supporters are in for further disappointment in their believe that a couple of good results will turn this around.

Like most (almost all?) commenters on this piece, I know little or nothing about Tom and haven’t taken time to find out.

Nepotism is the granting of favours or power on the basis of relationship, not merit. Mick, who does know about Tom, has explained why he thinks there’s merit in the choice.

Dave B actually seems at odds with most of Mick’s critics. It’s the reins of ownership that Delia & Michael are proposing to switch to Tom, of course; they’re not making him Chief Executive. Dave insists on football expertise and experience in his owners (as well, we assume, as in his CEO).

It seems to me most commenters don’t much care about that. They’re looking for money, and I understand the concern. What Tom doesn’t bring to Norwich City is a pile of dosh.

I have always seen it as a positive that Mick Dennis, a highly respected football journalist is a Norwich fan. He is a passionate supporter and provides insight into the current Board’s perspective. However, please acknowledge Mick that a lot of supporters are worried about the current trajectory of the club and that they seek a change of direction. Could you also please amend the article to get rid of the casual racist Chinese connotations. They are unworthy of you.

In common with everyone else I suspect I don’t know the first thing about “young Mr Tom” except that he is Delias nephew. It could well be that he is exceptionally gifted and will become the finest CEO in NCFC history, I for one sincerely hope so and wish him well.

The issue we should focus on is the CURRENT weakness of the board not any potential future that might or might not happen. As I have said previously we have replaced a CEO with a proven record of success in McNally with one with a proven record of failure or, at best, mediocrity! The future is NOW and we need a competent and dynamic chief exec at the helm. Regardless of any qualities he has there is no-one on the current board to teach young Mr Tom anything.

As I see it Tom will inherit his aunts & uncles shares. That is their right, so surely it is better for him to understand the business & responsibilities now rather than suddenly getting it all dumped on him when he inherits.
Who knows as he learns the business he may find he doesn’t totally agree with auntie & uncle’s philosophy

Well Mick, I have respect for Gary so took his point. Still I don’t think you know what nepotism is…

“That was not about nepotism. If it had been, they could have sold the club for, say, £40 million to any Tan, Wang or Wei and given Tom the money. ”

That isn’t nepotism. What they did was. Here you go…

“Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives. The term originated with the assignment of nephews to important positions by Catholic popes and bishops. Nepotism can occur in various fields including: politics, entertainment, business, sports, and religion”

Firstly let’s get we get rid of the idea that ” any Tan, Wang or Wei” is racist. It is no more so than it would be if it said any “Pierre, Jacques ou Henri”, or indeed if a Chinese commentator wrote “Tom, Dick and Harry”. It was used as an example, not in some derogatory or insulting manner.

“Them 2 dotty old pensioners ” as Andy (17) put it – now that’s offensive, and unnecessary. I hope people who disagree with you Andy show you more respect than you do to others.

Secondly as Stewart (30) points out, it is the CEO that needs football experience. But whilst it may be shares that are passed on formally, do people not understand that Tom Smith will already have absorbed a great deal of knowledge from Delia and Michael about how the club runs, how the league works, how agents behave and so on? He will be far better informed now than they were when they took over the reins.

In the end it’s results on the pitch that are causing us real grief at the moment, and it’s nothing to do with finance, or lack of it, not in this division anyway. AN seems to have lost his mojo. Personally I think he can find it again.

I don’t think it’s right to compare him with Nigel Worthington, who clearly turned out to be a one-hit wonder. I’m convinced Neil is a very good manager in the making – I just hope he can get over the current blip and prove it (again) with us, rather than someone else.

Having read all the above comments I simply do not understand the dismissing of Mick’s article as being too friendly to the Owners and written from a partisan point of view. Even if it is true, so what?
Are Delia and Michael not allowed a point of view? Can we only read critical articles? Why are those dismissing this article out of hand so scared? Do you really think that reading an article from the Owners’ perspective will contaminate your previously held views? It suggests considerable insecurity.
I respect those who say they’ve read the article and disagree but I’ve no respect for those who refuse to even listen because Mick is a friend of the Owners. That is as biased and one eyed as they claim Mick to be.

Well said Keith B (35).
I agree almost entirely with what you have posted. I differ with the AN position though. And I fear that a defeat tomorrow will be one defeat too far.

On a general point, I simply don’t understand why people have to be so abusive. Mick makes his case, we are free to agree, disagree and comment ourselves. That is good, but why people feel the need to insult others (Andy 17) is beyond me. It’s a part of modern football/life that I hate.

Blimey, talk about ruffling some canary feathers! Ask Charlton fans who they’d like to see in charge of their club? And before anyone shouts ‘Leicester’ just run down their board before you point a nepotism and ‘no experience’ finger at Tom.

Delia has brought more good times to this club than most owners have and she supports the same team we all do. Why can’t we be original and a role model for the rest, successful but under ownership of proper fans.

Had I missed Mick backing the manager? Or the CEO? Or the Board? Did he say the fans are wrong?

No, I was right first time. He was just filling in some background about the owners’ perspective and Tom Smith. He knows more about Tom than I do; perhaps you know more than Mick does (though I have a little suspicion you don’t).

Can’t complain, though. You did warn us you weren’t going to read the article.

I must defend myself against the charge of racism. I was trying to achieve a subliminal nod to the phrase ‘any Tom, Dick or Harry’ because the owners are passing the reins to a Tom, whom I know to be not just any old (or young) bloke.
From what I know of other clubs seeking ‘investment’, there are a number of Chinese individuals and conglomerates eyeing English clubs. So I picked two common Chinese names and ‘Tan’, so that the phrase would begin with a single syllable name starting with T so as to underline the reference to any Tom.
I did not intend the phrase to be derogatory to any group of people.
I was trying to say the owners could probably have got £40m from any of the Chinese suitors known to be ‘out there’. I’m truly sorry if I misjudged what the phrase would seem to mean to anyone.
My objection to the idea of selling to Chinese is because other clubs have found Chinese businesses particularly opaque and difficult for due diligence checks and because none of us knows how the Chinese involvement in English football will play out. The Chinese economy is extraordinarily volatile and who knows how that will play put either?
The other criticisms of me and the article are too familiar to hurt at all. I plead guilty to being friendly with Delia and Michael. Part of the reason for that friendship is that I know plenty of other club owners and have reported on the travails f many clubs. I believe the best model is for a club to be owned by people who would be in the stands any way if they were not in the directors’ box.

With respect Mick, your article is mere deflection and arguably stretching towards desperation. While I do not doubt your integrity and factual accuracy of your words, you know somethings wrong when you angle a story about some other clubs and their relative issues.

How other clubs are run are not relevant here. A ‘be careful what you wish for’ is a sideshow. It is about NCFC and how they run things on and off the pitch. That is what your words should be focused on, difficult as it may be.

Delia and Michael are good people and their hearts are in the right place. That is without doubt. However, were or are they still the right people for NCFC? There has always been an air of naivety about them and I’ve never been totally convinced by their business acumen.

Whatever the books say, the club isn’t managed as well as it could and I believe the football club has turned into something that it tried years to avoid. It appears fat, overblown and wasteful. This has transpired on the pitch which could of so easily been avoided. You just KNOW when something isn’t working and the club aren’t the easiest to like.

This season will be a watershed for the board as I feel they are running out of road and excuses. They’ve hit a ceiling and they’re better off looking for someone to take the club forward – yes forward – rather than spending their latter years out of their depth.

I was furious about the Times article and while I can appreciate how it can be turned into something Smith & Jones didn’t quite have in mind, I think they will look back on that as a fatal stabbing.

Blimey Dave B., didn’t realise just how much of club spokesperson Mick Dennis has become. That chain of partisan articles really hammers it home. With hindsight they also makes him appear rather silly and incredibly wrong on far too many occasions to be taken seriously in the future.

Let’s dispel the myth that Delia has brought more success than any other owner. Delia smith, 20 years in charge, 5 top flight, 14 second division, 1 third division, previous 20 years 17 top flight, 3 2nd division all promotions, plus 2 FA cup semi finals, 3rd and 4th top flight finishes, European campaign, cut short by our Liverpool friends. League cup winners. League cup finalists. A barren last 20 years by comparison. Don’t alter history to suit the Agenda,

I’m sure nobody really thinks that Micks references are racist. However, what they think about the owners utterances is another matter. The sentiment about foreign footballers in a winning Norwich city team making us all unhappy tars us all with that brush.

2: Nearly all those disagreeing are sadly displaying an abusive ignorance of facts (facts that most of us are ignorant of) and merely tendering their own biased and misinformed interpretations of the limited information available to us.

Bear in mind that rarely does anybody taking over ownership of a football club have any experience. The only example I can think of are the West Ham owners who previously owned Birmingham City. If Delia and Michael want to train Tom up to do the job, they clearly believe that he has the necessary qualities. I’ve not met him, so I couldn’t offer a valued opinion. But – he will have more experience than most when and if he eventually does assume the reins.

Informed, constructive criticism should always be encouraged. Most of the critics here – unusually for this directory- base their vituperative and unpleasant criticism on a sad lack of knowledge of the facts.

Interesting article and the comments have taken a few twists and turns along the way – some of which show as much contempt to the author as the owners. Frustration for our current predicament is, of course, no excuse.

Beyond the general observation that there are probably just as many bad domestic owners as overseas ones, there’s a common presumption amoung many that throwing cash at the problem will resolve all the Club’s current issues. It may – it may not.

Personally, I think we need to get our own house in order first. The direction this Club goes over the next season or two will be influenced by which League we’re in. Promotion will increase our income by £100m plus; staying where we are will result in further reductions and the opportunity for progression limited. Decisions made, or not taken, in the Boardroom over the next few days / weeks will have a much greater impact on that medium term than any decision whether or not to seek overseas investment.

Best for the club? No, it’s what’s best for the Smiths family. The best thing for Norwich City is for Delia and Michael to sell the club and take that useless board with them, When Tom is handed the reins we will be a bottom half Championship side…. AT BEST!! No money, a League 1 Level football team and deep in shit!!

Watching MOTD again beause of course I am. The first goal made by an overlapping Byram making space for an advancing Tettey, that's right Tettey to take the ball wide, cross to win the corner. Hard to pick an MoM but Tettey was immense after so little football #ncfc

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